The New York Philharmonic said: ‘In the wake of the very serious allegations reported today about conductor Charles Dutoit, Mr. Dutoit informed the New York Philharmonic that he has withdrawn from conducting concerts for the New York Philharmonic scheduled for January 17 20, 2018. The New York Philharmonic remains committed to providing a professional and safe workplace, free of sexual harassment and all other forms of inappropriate conduct.’

The Chicago Symphony said: ‘In response to the allegations about conductor Charles Dutoit reported in the media today, Mr. Dutoit informed the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA) that he has withdrawn from conducting concerts scheduled for March and April. The CSOA is committed to maintaining a workplace that is free from intimidation, coercion and harassment, including sexual harassment.

The public seems to get used to totalitarian rule of the accusation. What happened to due process? Rule of law? This is like gladiator fights in the Colosseum of ancient Rome, Cesar looking around what the mob wants, thumbs up or thumbs down. Scary times.
All the laws we need to investigate and bring this to trial are in place. Why not use them?

Spot on!Now just anyone can make allegations against you and you are out of the job,without a trial,a sentence or even a hearing or a chance to explain or to defend yourself.Populism at it´s worst!As long as there´s no proof or verdict,i think it´s totally inappropiate to ban someone from performance.It creates a truly disturbing,McCarthy era like atmosphere…

I agree that the BSO should take a look at its work environment, especially during recent years in which both Levine and Dutoit were fixtures in Boston and Tanglewood. But the cynical, self-preserving approach is to keep the focus on the perps– virtue-signal by dispatching them forthwith, while hoping the scrutiny shifts elsewhere.

In more breaking news, Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society has severed all ties with Franz Joseph Haydn, who for years was unfaithful to his wife, and who kept a mistress on the Esterhazy payroll. “What a bunch of losers,” remarked the H&H Executive Director.

I’m surprised you all seem to think that sexual assault – or even “alleged sexual assault” is a laughing matter. And then you wonder why the victims of abuse so often stay silent rather than face public humiliation.

Totally agree with you,Stephen. These events are very difficult because of the time which has lapsed between the alleged incidents and the present. However there is a need for all the allegations to be followed through in a timely manner with the highest levels of integrity by all parties. The sensationalist reporting is not helpful, neither is the low quality of many of the comments in this blog.
A bit of humanity and understanding would not go amiss.

The very fact that all these orchestras are throwing him out so quickly is likely due to the fact that they knew about his sexual misbehavior tendencies and are trying to cover themselves before any of this turns into an investigation of legal event.

Yep. I’d go for that explanation…
And for some here who still defend the “guilty before proven innocent”, and seel saddened that he “lost his job in one day”, be aware that there are lots of people who lost their jobs “in one day” because they said NO to ANY kind of abuse from people addicted to power. These people also need protection and recognition and justice at one point, which most will never get.

“Not a word from Montreal” except for the fact that there has, in fact, been a word from Montreal: http://www.ledevoir.com/societe/justice/516078/charles-dutoit-reactions-a-montreal.
Also, Dutoit has not conducted the OSM since 2002, except for an exceptional one-off concert in 2016, and is not expected to conduct in Montreal – pretty much ever, so I’m not sure why you would expect a statement from the OSM that they have banned him from the orchestra, as there are no concerts from which to ban him.

“The current management [the general director, Madeleine Careau, who has been in office since 2000] has never received any complaints or testimonies concerning sexual misconduct on the part of Mr. Dutoit with OSM musicians.” indicated to the Duty the head of the public relations of the OSM, Pascale Ouimet.

But, following allegations reported Thursday by the Associated Press (AP), the institution “does not close the door to a verification of cases of misconduct or harassment concerning the musicians of the OSM under the artistic direction of Mr. Dutoit, “added Ms. Ouimet.

What pisses me off most is,that,based on allegations made public.institutions place themselves above the law and decide which performers i am allowed to listen furthermore and which not to.Personally i was looking forward to a lot of Dutoit´s performances,especially of the french and russian masters.Thanks to this kind of infantilizing i can forget about this.
Today i had an appointment with my lawyer.He said he feels disgusted about how easily and readily people in this case ignore some basic principles of our law system.He would advice Dutoit(and Levine,too) to step forward and sue the accusers for libel.Than everyone has to put the cards on the table.If Dutoit did commit those allegations,the ladies should go ahead and file a lawsuit against him,instead of just making headlines.
If not,then there´s no reason to discuss it any further,for lack of legal justification.

Well, ask your lawyer about the difference how a criminal offense or misdemeanor and a civil lawsuit are handled by the law.
The accusations are about criminal acts or misdemeanors. You report those to the police, not file a (civil) lawsuit.

But,understandably so,there will be many jumping the bandwagon now,having found out how easy it is to destroy a career by dropping a few rumours.And maybe even getting a big break…My father told me stories about good old Joe McCarthy,and how it worked….

But he is not suspended, he is fired immediately, based solely on unproven accusations. Women never lie or settle scores, do they? In any case, it’s absurd to fire a reputable worker just based on ANY UNPROVEN accusation only. Had he been suspended it would feel differently.

Maybe all this is a conspiracy by younger conductors. Levine often reminded of Lully who held the post of Royal music director to such an extent that no music of other composers could be performed without his approval. Thus we know much less of Charpantiere, Mondonville, etc. Apparently they were not inventive enough to come up with some grave accusations, like attempts to poison the King, for example. This sex stuff would not fly then…

Extra, extra: famous conductor dropped by orchestras right and left over sexual misconduct accusations — 22 years after @ottawanag described the very same behavior in an article that made quite a stir, but that was evidently soon forgotten.

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